US10853748B2ActiveUtilityA1

Managing material handling productivity

80
Assignee: CATERPILLAR INCPriority: Jun 5, 2018Filed: Jun 5, 2018Granted: Dec 1, 2020
Est. expiryJun 5, 2038(~11.9 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Chris HaChau Le
E02F 9/265E02F 9/262E02F 9/2054E02F 9/205G06Q 10/06314G06Q 10/06313G06Q 10/063114G06Q 50/30G06Q 50/40
80
PatentIndex Score
5
Cited by
36
References
20
Claims

Abstract

A device for managing material handling productivity is disclosed. The device may receive information identifying a moving zone for a job site, a quantity of loads for the moving zone, and a material for the moving zone, and may identify a first machine, from multiple machines, to assign to the moving zone, the quantity of loads, and the material. The device may provide, to a first user device associated with the first machine, information indicating that the moving zone, the quantity of loads, and the material are assigned to the first machine. The device may receive, from the first user device, location information associated with the first user device and the first machine, and may provide the location information to a second user device, associated with a second machine, to enable the second machine to travel to the first machine.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A device comprising:
 one or more memory devices; and 
 one or more processors, operatively coupled to the one or more memory devices, to:
 receive information identifying a job site, a quantity of loads for a moving load zone, and a material for the moving load zone; 
 identify a machine from multiple machines; 
 provide, to a first user device associated with the machine, information indicating that the quantity of loads for the moving load zone and the material are assigned to the machine; 
 receive, from the first user device, location information associated with the first user device and the machine; 
 assign, based on the location information, the moving load zone to a location of the machine on the job site; 
 provide, as the moving load zone, a shape with a center representing the location of the machine; 
 receive, via a user interface of a second user device, information identifying an edit to change the shape to a different shape that provides a geographical boundary or a geo-fence that represents the moving load zone; 
 calculate a loading time for loading the material by the machine and at a particular time; 
 calculate a quantity of loads handled by the machine and at the particular time; and 
 perform an action based on the loading time and the quantity of loads handled by the machine. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the information identifying the job site is provided via a user interface displaying a visual rendering of the job site. 
     
     
       3. The device of  claim 1 , wherein, when performing the action, the one or more processors are to:
 provide, to a third user device, information identifying the loading time and the quantity of loads handled by the machine. 
 
     
     
       4. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, when calculating the loading time, are to:
 determine a quantity of time spent loading by the machine; 
 determine a quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine; and 
 calculate the loading time based on the quantity of time spent loading by the machine and the quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine. 
 
     
     
       5. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, when calculating the quantity of loads handled by the machine, are to:
 receive, from sensors associated with the machine, information indicating that the machine is loading; and 
 calculate the quantity of loads handled by the machine based on the information indicating that the machine is loading. 
 
     
     
       6. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the machine includes an excavator, a loader, or a backhoe. 
     
     
       7. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to:
 track, via a third user interface associated with a processing machine that processes a load of the quantity of loads handled by the machine, a location of the processing machine; and 
 assign a moving dump zone to the location of the processing machine. 
 
     
     
       8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive information identifying a job site, a quantity of loads for a moving load zone, and a material for the moving load zone; 
 identify a machine from multiple machines; 
 provide, to a first user device associated with the machine, information indicating that the quantity of loads for the moving load zone and the material are assigned to the machine; 
 receive, from the first user device location information associated with the first user device and the machine; 
 assign, based on the location information, a moving load zone to a location of the machine on the job site; 
 provide, as the moving load zone, a shape with a center representing the location of the machine; 
 receive, via a user interface of a second user device, information identifying an edit to change the shape to a different shape that provides a geographical boundary or a geo-fence that represents the moving load zone; 
 calculate a processing time for processing the material, for the moving dump zone, by the machine and at a particular time; 
 calculate a quantity of loads handled by the machine and at the particular time; and 
 perform an action based on the processing time and the quantity of loads handled by the machine. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the action includes:
 providing, to the first user device or the user device, information identifying the processing time. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to calculate the processing time, cause the one or more processors to:
 determine a quantity of time spent processing the material by the machine; 
 determine a quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine; and 
 calculate the processing time based on the quantity of time spent processing the material by the machine and the quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine. 
 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to calculate the quantity of loads handled by the machine, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive, from sensors associated with the machine, information indicating that the machine is processing the material; and 
 calculate the quantity of loads handled by the machine based on the information indicating that the machine is processing the material. 
 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the machine is a paver, a bulldozer, or a steamroller. 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 monitor the job site based on statuses of the machine; 
 generate one or more alerts based on monitoring the job site; and 
 provide the one or more alerts to the first user device. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 track a location of a processing machine that processes a load of the quantity of loads handled by the machine; and 
 assign a moving dump zone to the location of the processing machine. 
 
     
     
       15. A method comprising:
 receiving, by a device, information identifying a job site, a quantity of loads for a moving load zone, and a material for the moving load zone; 
 identifying, by the device, a machine from multiple machines; 
 providing, by the device and to a first user device associated with the machine, information indicating that the quantity of loads for the moving load zone and the material are assigned to the machine; 
 receiving, by the device and from the first user device, location information associated with the first user device and the machine; 
 assigning, based on the location information, a moving load zone to a location of the machine on the job site; 
 providing, as the moving load zone, a shape with a center representing the location of the machine; 
 receiving, via a user interface of a second user device, information identifying an edit to change the shape to a different shape that provides a geographical boundary or a geo-fence that represents the moving load zone; 
 calculating, by the device, a loading time for loading the material by the machine and at a particular time; 
 calculating, by the device, a quantity of loads handled by the machine and at the particular time; and 
 performing, by the device, an action based on the loading time and the quantity of loads handled by the machine. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 providing navigation information to a third user device associated with a different machine,
 the navigation information providing navigation instructions from a location of the different machine to the location of the machine. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the machine is one of:
 an excavator, 
 a loader, 
 a backhoe, 
 a paver, 
 a bulldozer, or 
 a steamroller. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 monitoring statuses of the machine; 
 generating one or more alerts based on monitoring the statuses of the machine; and 
 providing the one or more alerts to the first user device. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 tracking a location of a processing machine that processes a load; and 
 assigning a moving dump zone to the location of the processing machine. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 providing the location information to a third user device, associated with a different machine, to enable the different machine to travel to the machine.

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